False memories of expectancy-consistent and expectancy-inconsistent images in a paired-association memory task

Author

Corey A. Nack, Purdue UniversityFollow
Melissa J. Loria, University of IndianapolisFollow

Periodical Title

Modern Psychological Studies

Volume

26

Number

2

Department

Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

The current research utilized a paired-association task previously developed to evoke false memories to determine whether people would be more likely to falsely recall having viewed expectancy-consistent vs. expectancy-inconsistent images. Participants were shown a series of 60 expectancy-consistent and expectancy-inconsistent images and were then asked whether they recognized 120 partially redacted images (60 previously seen, 60 new). When they reported seeing a redacted image, they were asked which version (either the expectancy-consistent or the expectancy-inconsistent) they remembered having seen. We found that when participants falsely recognized redacted images, they were significantly more likely to select the expectancy-consistent version of the image. Surprisingly, we also found that accurate memories were more likely for expectancy-consistent images. These findings suggest that this paired-association task can be useful in evoking false memories of images.

Keyword

false memories; expectancy-inconsistent; expectancy-consistent; images; memory

Document Type

article

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Recommended Citation

Nack, Corey A. and Loria, Melissa J. (2022) "False memories of expectancy-consistent and expectancy-inconsistent images in a paired-association memory task," Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 26: No. 2, Article 6.
Available at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol26/iss2/6